Gauze bandage



J. A. HINKAMP. TAL y2,190,378

GAUZE BANDAGE AFiled July- 15,1936

` 4 Fcl. 13, 1940.

y@ ,1 5M Y .a @M

Patentedv 13, ,l

.. GAuzE -BANDAGE y n y :mph A. Hikamp ima Harry .1a. Busen, cm

u ago,-Ill.',`as`signors to Generallandages, Inc.,

*L* .v hicagg-Ill., ad corporation of Illinois l Application July 13, 1936,v Serial N0.9A),346 Solanas; (Cinta-.156i

One of the objects of thisninvention is to-pro A vide a self-adhering ygauze bandage which is soft, white and porous-'and will retain theseV characteristics fora considerable period Vof time.'

commercially satisfactory method of producing a latex-impregnated gauze bandage'l While the `foregoing statements are indicative in a general way of the nature oizthe invention,

`-10 other more specic objectsandr advantages will be apparent to those skilled inthe ,art upon a full understanding of the improved bandage and the method employed in preparing the, same.

A preferred embodiment of the invention ls.

1l presented herein for the purpose of exemplication, but it will of course be appreciated that the invention maybe embodied and practiced in other slightly modified forms and ways coming equally Within the scope of the appended claims.

i n In the `accompanying drawing: l

Fig. 1 is a side view'of an apparatus suitable for usev in practicing the method; and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a roll of the nnished bandage. ,f Y

2l The improved bandagehas much the appearance of the plain gauze bandage, but it has the additional property of adheringto itselfwhen applied as a wrapping. It is merely necessary to lap the bandage on itself and rub the free end i0 down gently, whereupon firm adherence will be obtained. The bandage will not stick to skin, hair or clothing. It is soft and porous, and is pure white in color, although it may be produced in diiierent colors if desired by adding a color 35 to the latex solution or-'else by using colored gauze to start with.

The bandage is prepared by being' impregnated with a small quantity of rubber latex from which the proteins present in the serum arein'large 40 measure eliminated in the course of the treatment. v

In practicing the invention, a large roll i0 of ordinary white bleached surgical gauzevis mounted on a. spindle -ll and thel web I2 of gauze from 45 the roll is led down into a tank i3 which is filled with liquid latex of approximately 60 per cent rubber content. The gauze passes' down around a roller I4 in ,the bottom of the tank and then leaves the tank and passes between a pair of rub- 50 ber rollers i5 which squeeze the excess latex out of the gauze. From the rollers l5 the latexsaturated gauze passes down into a second tank I8 which is illled with a. ,solution of acetic acid. A 1% solution will give good results. Thisrsolution is preferably kept at about 180 F. tem- -Another object of the invention is to provide-a perature by means of a heating coil Il beneath the tank, although good' results havebeen'- obtained'when the acid bath is 4allowed to remain at room temperature; -Some heatfisdesirable, however; becauselt tends tospeed up the coagug lation of the latex. The gauze after entering the tank i6 passes down rarounda. roller I -near the '.bottomof the tank and upon leaving the tan`l5,l

passes between'a pair of rubber rollers I-9 whicl .squeeze the' excess acid Vout of the gauze. 10

'I'he liquid latex inthe tank `lordinarily contains ammonia as a preservative and as this ammonia must be neutralized by the acid before any setting of the rubber content can take place some of the latex may wash out of the gauze in fthe 1B form of a scum. This scum, if subsequently' picked up by the gauze as it leaves the acid tank, will spoil the product. To prevent this we direct 'a blast of air against the gauze in a direction away from the acid bath just before the gauze enters the latter. A fan 2li can be used for this purpose, the fan being located above and beyond the rollers i9 at a downward inclination, so as to blow directly against the gauze after the gauze leaves the rollers i5 and before it enters the acid bath. This air current carries ofi enough of the ammonia to allow the acid to produce a quick coagulation of the rubber in the latex.

From the rollers i9 the gauze passes downwardly into a third tank 2| which is filled with water which continuously circulates through the tank,fentering through the pipe 22 and leaving through the pipe 23. The Water in the tank 2l rinses all of the free acid out of the treated gauze.

This water is preferably heated somewhat, by -means of a heating coil 24`beneath the tank.

Upon entering the tank 2i the gauze passes rst around a roller 25 and then around a roller 26 which is spaced horizontally some distance from the roller 25 in order to give the water in the tank ample opportunity in which to circulate through the interstices of the gauze. Upon leaving the tank 2l the gauze is further rinsed by being sprayed with jets of freslfwater from two perforated pipes 28 at opposite sides of the gauze. Beyond the jets thefgauze passes upwardly between a pair of 4,rubber rolls 29 which squeeze as much water as possible out of the gauze. From the rollers 29 the gauze is rolled up again into a roll 30 on a powerdrlven spindle 3|. 50

The thusly treated roll 30 of bandage on the spindle 3i may be cut into the desired widthsand lengths during the rolling up process, or all of the bandage from the roll l0 may be run into the roll 30 and then the latter removed and u transferred to any suitable form of measuring and cutting machine, the cutting being done either before or after the treated gauze' has been dried. As`the gauze leaves the rinsingtank and approaches the last pair 'of rollers 29, it is preferably acted upon by a curved blade 32 which serves to keep the gauze spread out laterally so as to present a smooth surface when being rolled up on the spindle, 3l.

The gauze which is used is preferably of about 36 x 36 mesh, and the roll may be 500 yards long and 36 inches wide, although it will of course be appreciated that any other Width or length or size of mesh, within reasonable limits, may be employed. In passing through the bath of liquid latex in the tank I3 the gauze becomes thoroughly impregnated and saturated with the latex but the rollers l5 prevent any appreciable quantity of the latex from being carried over into the acid bath. As soon as the gauze enters the acid solutionin the tank I6, the acid immediately neutralizes the alkaline preservative in the latex and thereupon coagulates or setsthe rubber con- .tent of the latex, leavingthe interstices of the gauze more or less open and free to permit cir culation of the acid solution therethrough.

Upon subsequently entering the water in the tank 2| the remaining acid is rinsed out of the gauze, which rising insures `the removal of all the'serum or protein content of the latex liberated upon the setting of the rubber content.

In place of the air blast provided by the fan 2U, afpair of bailies 33 may be mounted in the tank, partly submerged in the acid solution, at opposite-sides of the entering gauze, for confining v the scum and preventing it from lioating over 2,190,378 ,i v and clinging to the gauze which has been treated. l

If desired, an additional tank containing a second rinse water and/or an antiseptic bath may be added after the tank 2|, but ordinarily the sterilization of the completed bandage will be effected by heating. the packaged bandage in a special oven designed for that purpose..

A small roll 34 of the improved bandage @ina` 1" or 2" width, is shown in Fig. 2. It has much the appearance of ordinary gauze but because of its adhering characteristic can take the place of both gauze and adhesive tape.

'I'he method disclosed herein is claimed in divisional application Serial No. 294,056.

We claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a. soft porous self-adhering gauze bandage strip impregnated with de-proteinized rubber latex, said strip 3. -As a new article-of manufacture,aselfv v adhering gauze bandage vstrip covered-with a porous film, di rubber. latex4 from which ,a sub- 1 stantial part of the proteins have been `removed,

said strip when looped upon and pressed against itself adhering to produce a self-secured bandage.V

JOSEPH A.

vvHARRYR. BRASEL. .35 

